Aaron Smith is a freelance cinematographer, director and producer working across documentary, drama, comedy and commercial productions. Aaron co-created, produced, directed and shot the ABC’s ground-breaking series You Can’t Ask That, winner of the prestigious Rose d’Or, AACTA Award, Walkley Media Diversity Award and three United Nations Association of Australia Media Awards. The format, now in production in over a dozen countries worldwide, is the ABC’s most successful format ever with 47 international sales to date.
Aaron shot Sarah Ferguson’s AACTA and Walkley award-winning documentary series Hitting Home, the Walkley and AACTA nominated investigative documentary The Queen and Zak Grieve, the ABC’s AACTA-winning Employable Me and the primetime arts documentaries Matilda & Me and Making Muriel. In 2019/20 Aaron shot Sarah Ferguson’s groundbreaking documentary series Revelation for ABC and Blackfella Film’s long-form observational documentary series Addicted for SBS.
Aaron was the director of photography on the narrative comedies Plonk, How Not To Behave and ABC’s Fresh Blood: Be Your Own Boss. He directed the provocative documentary series Dumb, Drunk and Racist and Head Firstfor ABC2 and entertainment series The Checkout, The Hamster Wheel, Myf Warhurts’s Nice and Hungry Beast for the ABC.
His work has been recognised with a Walkley Award, Australian Cinematographer Society Awards, United Nations Association of Australia Media Awards and numerous Logie and AACTA nominations. He was a finalist in the National Portrait Gallery’s National Photographic Portrait Prize and has had portrait work circulated on an official Australia Post stamp series.